Overhead door operator with safety disconnectible coupling



Dec. 4, 1962 G. P. GESSELL OVERHEAD DOOR OPERATOR WITH SAFETY DISCONNECTIBLE COUPLING Filed April 14, 1958 3,066,729 Patented Dec. 4, 1962 ice 3,066,729 OVERIEAD DQGR OPERATOR WITH SAFETY DISCUNNECTIBLE COUPLING Glenn P. Gessell, 930 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Pointe Shores 36, Mich. Filed Apr. 14, 1958, Ser. No. 728,304 2 Claims. (Cl. 160-193) This invention relates to overhead door operators, and in particular, to safety devices therefor.

One object of this invention is to provide a safety traction disconnecting device for disconnecting a pulled or towed object from its towing or traction member, such as a flexible cable or chain, at the will of the operator.

Another object is to provide a safety-traction disconneoting device, as set forth in the object immediately preceding, which is also provide with means for automatically reconnecting the pulled object with the traction member either by moving the pulled object manually relatively to the towing or traction member or in response to the power-operated reactuation of the towing or traction member after the cessation of the emergency or other cause requiring such disconnection.

Another object is to provide a safety traction disconnecting device for disconnecting an overhead door from the door operator, thereby enabling the door to be quickly and easily disengaged from the traction member of the door operator, such as a flexible cable, upon the occurrence of any sudden emergency and enable the door, if in its closed position, to be opened so as to permit the escape of persons inside the building, notwithstanding the temporary inoperativeness of the door operating motor due to a power failure resulting from the emergency, or from other causes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical cross-section through an overhead door equipped with a power-driven cable-actuated door operator provided with a safety traction disengaging device, according to one form of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section, principally in elevation, taken along the line 2-2 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the safety traction disengaging device shown in the upper central portion of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the device shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a right-hand end elevation of the device shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, with the overhead door guide rail shown in cross-section; and

FIGURE 6 is a vertical longitudinal section taken along the line 66 in FIGURE 4.

Hitherto, in the operation of overhead doors driven by power-actuated door operators of the cable-driven or other flexible traction member type, emergencies, such as explosions or fires, have occasionally occured inside the building equipped with such doors while the doors were in their lowered positions. Very frequently, the fire or explosion either ruptured the electric power lines or caused or required the current to be shut off, thereby trapping persons inside the building by their inability to open the door by the use of the power-driven door operator. The present invention provides a safety traction disconnecting device interposed between the overhead door and its flexible traction member, such as a cable or chain, so that even if the motor-driven dooroperating mechanism halts the traction motion of the traction cable or chain, a person, by operating the safety disconnecting device of the present invention, can thereafter open the door manually and permit escape of the persons through the door opening.

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIGURES 1 and 2 show a traction-type overhead door operator, generally designated 10, as installed in a building structure 12 having a door opening 14 closed by a hinged panel overhead door 16. The building structure 12 is provided with a front wall portion 18 extending downward from the ceiling 20, the door opening 14 having a door frame 22 including spaced parallel vertical side members 24 interconnected at their upper ends by a horizontal top member 26 above which is an upper parallel horizontal framing member 28 to which the front wall portion 18 is also secured. The construction of the building structure 12 is shown merely diagrammatic-ally in order to simplify the disclosure of the invention. Extending rearwardly from the upper cross member 28 at each end thereof is a beam 30.

Mounted within the building structure 12 at each side of the door opening 14 adjacent the side members 24 thereof is the arcuately-curved portion 32 of a channel guide track, generally designated 34. The latter has a slightly inclined lower portion 36 extending from the building floor 38 to the lower end of the arcuate portion 32 and also has an upper horizontal portion 40 connected to the upper end of the arcuate portion 32 of each channel guide track 34 and extending rearwardly therefrom. The channel guide tracks 34 are of approximately J- shaped cross-section, and their upper horizontal portions 40 are supported by spaced struts 42 secured to and depending from the ceiling 20. The generally vertical portions 36 of the channel guide tracks 34 are secured as by angle brackets 43 to the side frame members 24 of the door frame 22.

The hinged-panel overhead door 16 is of conventional construction and its details are beyond the scope of the present invention. As shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, it consists of multiple horizontally-elongated panels 44 interconnected by multiple horizontally-spaced hinges 46 having upper and lower hinge and roller brackets 48 and 50 pivotally interconnected by laterally-outwardlyextending hinge pins 52 carrying at their outer ends guide rollers 54 engageable with the channel guide tracks 34 so as to simultaneously support and guide the panels 44 of the door 16 as it is moved upward or downward by the mechanism described below. Secured to each side of the lowermost door panel 44 near the bottom edge 56 thereof is an auxiliary roller bracket 58 having an extended pivot pin 60 carrying a lower guide roller 62 which is also engageable with the channel guide track 34.

Mounted on and wound upon a winding drum 68 above and at each end of the upper frame cross member 28 is a traction cable 66. The cable 66 is anchored in any suitable way to its respective cable drum 68, which in turn is keyed or otherwise drivingly connected to a cross shaft or jack shaft 70, the opposite ends of which are journaled in bearing brackets 72 resting upon and bolted or otherwise secured to the adjacent beam 39. Also rotatably supporting the cross shaft at approximately the mid-portion thereof is an intermediate bearing bracket 74 (FIGURE 2) which is bolted or otherwise secured to an angle bracket 75 secured in turn to the upper cross member 287 Seated as in sockets 76 in the bearing bracket 74 (FIG- URE 2) are the inner ends of weight-counterbalancing torsion springs 73 which are coiled around the cross shaft 7%) and extend outwardly therefrom in oppositelywound directions, their outer ends being seated as in sockets 86 in anchor collars 82 which are bolted or otherwise secured to the cross shaft 70. The cross shaft 70 at one end is drivingly connected to a motor-driven reduction gear set 86 mounted on an angle bracket 88 which is bolted or otherwise secured to the upper horizontal frame cross member 28.

The traction cable or other flexible traction member 66 on one side of and above the door opening 14 is, as previously stated, wound around the cable drum 68 and secured thereto by any suitable anchorage. The cable 66 also passes around a rearward pulley 90 which is rotatably mounted upon an axle 92 supported in an upstanding bearing bracket 94 which rests upon and is bolted or otherwise secured to its respective beam 30 (FIGURE 1). Bolted or otherwise secured to the upper end of the bearing bracket 72 and extending rearwardly therefrom is an apertured upstanding angle arm 96 through the aperture of which passes the upper course of the cable 66, this upper course also passing through the aligned aperture of a forwardly-extending apertured upstanding angle arm 98 which is similarly bolted or otherwise secured to the upper end of the bearing bracket 94 (FIGURE 1). Mounted upon the upper course of the cable 66 are two spaced flanged spring abutment collars 106 and 10 2 respectively serving as abutments for compression spring 104 and 106 respectively, the spring 104 extending forwardly from the forward collar 100 and the spring 106 extending rearwardly from the rearward collar 102 so that both springs 104 and 186 eventually engage their respective upstanding angle arms 96 and 98 during travel of the cable 66 in opposite directions. The collars 1110 and 162 are bolted or otherwise fixedly secured to the upper course of the traction cable 66, and operate a pressure-responsive safety motor shutoff device (not shown), outside the scope of the present invention.

Bolted or otherwise fixedly secured to the lower course 'of the traction cable 66 (FIGURE 6) as by the set screw 107 is a traction coupling ball or coupling engagement element 1128 of metal or other suitable material by which the pull of the cable 66 is applied to raising or lowering the door 16. The coupling ball 1'08 serves as one element of a safety traction-disconnecting device, generally designated 110, and shown in detail in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5. Selectively engageable with and disengageable from the ball 108 is a hump-backed coupling lever 112 having a socket 114 of approximately semi-circular cross-section beneath the hump 115 intermediate its ends. The socket 114 faces downwardly into nesting engagement with the approximate upper half of the coupling ball 168, and constitutes a coupling shoulder engageable therewith. The coupling lever 112 has a downwardly-extending approximately V-shaped forward arm 116 with a groove or slot 118 therethrough for the passage of the lower course of the cable 66, the upwardly and forwardly-inclined parallel arms 120 of the V-shaped portion 116 terminating in an inclined bridge or connecting portion 122 which serves as a cam member for swinging the coupling lever 112 upward to re-engage the socket 114 with the ball 108, as explained below in connection with the operation of the invention.

The opposite end of the coupling lever 112 from the cam end portion 122 is provided with a hub 124 having therein a slot 126 aligned with the lower course of the cable 66 and of greater than semicircular extent to enable upward and downward swinging of the coupling lever 1112 without engagement of the opposite ends 128 and 130 of the slot 126 with the cable 66 (FIGURE 6) except at stops at the extreme limits of swing of the coupling lever 112 (FIGURE 6). The hub 124 of the coupling lever 112 is rotatably mounted upon a shaft or axle 132 having a bore 134 therethrough for the passage of the lower course of the cable 66. The axle 132 has a head 136 at one end and extends through the hub 124 and projects therebeyond (FIGURES 4 and The hub 124 has an extension 138 (FIGURES 4 and 5) projecting laterally beyond the arm portion 116 and also provided with a slot 140 similar to the slot 126 described above. Integral with the hub extension 138 and projecting in the opposite direction from the forward arm portion 116 is a rearward arm 142 terminating in an eye 144 in which is secured the upper end loop 145 of a control member 146, such as a chain, cable or rod, having at its lower end a handle 148. The rearward arm portion 142 is engaged by the hooked rearward end of a torsion spring 152 (FIGURES 3 and 4) which encircles the axle 132 and has a hooked forward end 154 hooked over a rod 156 interconnecting the laterally-spaced parallel opposite load-moving levers 158 and 160 respectively. The spring 152 yieldingly urges the coupling lever 112 in a counterclockwise direction into its coupling position (FIGURES 1, 3 and 6).

The outer and inner levers 158 and 160, in addition to being interconnected by the rod 156, are also pivotally connected to the pivot shaft 164 (FIGURE 5) of a carriage, generally designated 162, mounted for travel along the guide track 34. The pivot shaft 164 isthreaded at its outer end to receive a nut 166 and is headed on its inner end to rotatably support and retain a guide roller 16S forming a part of the carriage 162 and rollably engageable with the glide track 34. The shaft 164 has an enlargement 170 intermediate its opposite ends immediately outside the inner lever 160 (FIG- URE 5) and has a tubular spacer 172 disposed on the portion of the shaft 164 between the levers 158 and 160. The upper ends of the levers 158 and 166 are bored to receive the axle 132, the upper end of the inner lever 16% being received in the slot 140 in the hub extension 138 and that of the outer lever 158 being mounted on the outer end of the axle 132 and retained thereon by the nut 174 threaded upon the threaded reduced-diameter outer end thereof (FIGURE 5).

The lower ends of the bent levers 158 and 160 are drilled to receive a pivot pin or axle 176 (FIGURE 2) rotatably supported in a pivot bracket 178 which is bolted or otherwise secured to the uppermost panel 44 of the overhead door 16 near the upper edge thereof. The pivot pin or axle is extended laterally into alignment with the channel guide track 34 and at its end carries a guide roller 180 rotatably mounted thereon and engage able with the guide track 34.

In the operation of the invention, let it be assumed that the overhead door 16 is in its lowered position and that the coupling lever 112 is in its coupled position (FIG-- URES 1, 3 and 6) with its socket 114 receiving an engaging the coupling ball 108. Let is also be assumed that.

the motor-driven reduction gear set 86 (FIGURE 2) is de-energized so that the door 16 is stationary in its low-- ered position as shown in FIGURE 1. Let it finally be assumed that some emergency has occurred, such as an.

explosion or fire, which has either severed the connec-- tion or cut off the supply of current to the motor-driven gear set 86 or has required the shutting off of such cur-- escape of the persons trapped inside the building struc-- ture 12, a person inside the building grasps the handle 148 and pulls down upon the control member 146, overcoming the urge of the torsion spring 152 and lifting the forward arm 116 of the coupling lever 112 away from the lower course of the traction cable 66 so as to disengage the socket 114 from the traction ball 108. With the coupling lever 112 thus moved into its uncoupled position, the operator lifts the door 16 manually by grasping any convenient portion thereof while maintaining a control upon the pull member 146. As the door 16 is raised manually, the carriage 1 62 moves rearwardly along the guide track 40, causing the raised coupling lever 112 to move rearwardly away from the coupling ball 108. The handle 148 on the control member 146 can then be released as soon as the socket 114 of the coupling lever 112 has passed beyond the ball 108 and the forward arm 116 has likewise cleared the traction coupling ball 108. The door 16 can then be raised manually in a free and unobstructed manner by the persons inside the buildstructure 12 without interfering with or interference from the traction cable 66 which normally raises and lowers the door 16 by means of power applied by the powerdriven reduction gear set 86.

To recouple the door 16 to the traction cable 66 after the emergency has passed, the operator merely pulls manually downward upon the door 16, causing the carriage 162 to move forwardly along the horizontal channel track portion 40 until the cam portion 122 on the forward end of the forward arm 116 of the coupling lever 112 collides with the coupling ball 108. Due to its inclined form, the forward arm 116 rides upward over the ball 108, whereupon the socket 114 beneath the hump 115 of the coupling lever 112 falls downward into coupling engagement with the upper half of the coupling ball 108 as the torsion spring 152 swings the coupling lever 112 in a counterclockwise direction (FIGURES 1, 3 and 6) around the axle 132. This action recouples the door 16 to the traction cable 66 and conditions it for raising or lowering thereby as soon as power is communicated to the reduction gear set 86 in the usual way.

While the safety traction disconnecting device of the invention has been described and shown for purposes of example as applied to disconnecting an overhead door from a motorized flexible member, it is by no means limited to such an application. The invention is also applicable to the safety disconnection of any flexible member used to deliver power from a motor to a load moved by the power of that motor, such as, for example, the connection of a load to and disconnection of a load from a drag line, conveyor cable, reciprocable cable, elevator or hoisting cable and the like. It will also be evident that in the above-described application of the invention to a power-operated door, the operator is not necessarily required to move the door manually in order to recouple the door to the door-operating cable as the latter will do so automatically after the motor has been started and the operating cable 66 moves the ball 108 into engagement with the cam 116 of the coupling lever 112 and swings the latter so as to enter the socket 114. In any event, it will be evident that even if the operator lifted the door manually, he could not move the dooroperating carriage 162 beyond the ball 108 because the ball 108 would act as a stop.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with an elongated guide structure and an elongated power-driven flexible traction member movable adjacent and along a portion of said guide structure in substantially parallel relationship therewith, a carriage movably mounted on said guide structure for travel therealong relatively to said traction member, a load-moving member continuously connected to said carriage and adapted to be operatively connected to a load to be moved and extending into proximity to said traction member, a pivot member mounted on said load-moving member, a coupling engagement element secured to said traction member and projecting laterally therefrom, a coupling lever pivotally mounted on said pivot member and disposed continuously in proximity to said traction member, said coupling lever having a coupling shoulder thereon movable into and out of coupling engagement with said coupling engagement element, and a control member operatively connected to said coupling lever for selectively moving said coupling lever out of coupling engagement with said coupling engagement element, said coupling lever including a coupling lever deflector projecting longitudinally from said coupling lever toward said coupling engagement element and eifective to deflect said coupling lever laterally away from said coupling engagement element upon engagement therebetween upon arrival of said coupling lever at said coupling engagement element, said pivot member projecting into the path of said flexible traction member and having an opening therethrough, said flexible traction member passing through said opening.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, wherein the coupling lever deflector has a slot therein aligned with the opening in the coupling lever pivot member in the coupled position of said coupling lever and coupling engagement element, said flexible traction member in said coupled position passing through said slot and through said opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,430,729 Negri Nov. 11, 1947 2,544,239 Schirmer Mar. 6, 1951 2,753,179 Hahn July 3, 1956 2,861,799 Hartzler Nov. 25, 1958 2,982,541 Brady May 2, 196 1 

